[ music ] priceless theft a stun gun, a concert master and the mystery of who stole a 300yearold stradavarius. [ music ] atlanta will recover from the ice storm and life will get back to normal. For now the city is reeling from Mother Nature and mistakes from those in power. Thousands stranded on highway, children spending the night in schools and buses. Good samaritans rescuing those in need. We know it happened, but why what went wrong . We begin with robert ray in atlanta. Atlanta, paralyzed by a few inches of snow that turned quickly into dangerous ice. The ice on the road people are trying to drive up and down the road and couldnt make it. Tyres lost traction, everyone hit each other. A million commuters and schoolchildren trying to go home simultaneously tuesday as the storm bore down. The result a colossal regionwide traffic jam. Many people driving. If you can call it that, for over 16 hours, marking their progress in inches. Some stranded overnight, forced to leave their vehicles and walk to makeshift shelters in freezing temperatures. Some sleeping in store aisles and restaurants. If we had not had everyone exiting at the same time and going en route to pick up the children, i dont believe we would have had the gridlock that has resulted. On wednesday the states top leaders faced questions over whether their decisions to send workers home early and when to let schools out brought the metro ladder to a standstill. What could we do to avoid that . We cant control Mother Nature. Just as we cannot make better predictions, neither could the school superintendents. Thats why the schoolchildren are in the situation they were in. The governor deal said that more than 2,000 students spent the night at school, because buses like this, idle on many of the roads in the atlanta area could not move because of the hills and the ice. Students, teachers and principals tried to make the best of it. We have kids that have never been away from home. Our younger 5yearolds, we called the parents. Last night and this morning. That calmed fears. Atlanta, hub to Major Corporation and the Busiest Airport in the world is facing the consequences of not being prepared to deal with snow and ice that had been forecast well in advance. I lived off the street my whole life and never saw anything like this. The city is shut down, schools closed and residents looking to put the blame on someone robert ray reporting. And former Georgia State senator Liane Levetan is on the phone. Good to have you on the program. Who do you blame for all this . Well, im not one that says we have to blame anyone. You look at the situation, and try and come up with solutions if this comes again. I have lived in atlanta for most of my life. We had terrible storms, but what has happened here, i believe, not only being in the state senate, but being the chief executive officer running the cab county government and county commission, recognising that it takes team work, and one of the things that needs to be done is there needs to be a coordinated effort with the state, with the local governments as well as the school systems, but we also have to realise that atlanta is a growing, growing area, which is good. Our Rapid Transit system is not going to all over the whole region. There needs to be improvements made sustaining our road systems, and as a matter of fact the people of this region turned down a way to make improvements that are needed if someone had moved a little sooner would that have made a difference . What happened, and i have been home. I got stuck. Luckily got home after a 10 minute ride took me almost an hour and a half. I think that we depended a lot on the National Weather forecast and people werent sure. This happened, you know, very suddenly. But the movement changed so i think, you know, we had to make decisions to if we contemplate something, are we going to close down the schools. Each jurisdiction makes their own decisions. This is a Good Opportunity for us to come together as a region or a state, to come up with an emergency plan if Something Like this happens again as far as roads and what we do you come up with a good point and i want to talk about coordination and i want to mention this. People that have grown up in the south understand that you may have only had a couple of inches of snow, but the ice is treacherous. Given that 10,000 children, though, spent the night in schools or 300 on school buses. So dont the governments, all the governments surrounding atlanta need to get together with the state and city to figure out a plan of action now . Well, i think this you know, we look back and learn from our mistakes. And i dont think it can be pinpointed to anybody. I think we have to be happy now that we are on the way out of this situation. But i certainly feel, and i have said this, that i believe in coordination. We had tornado when i was ceo of the county and had to coordinate with the surrounding counties and g. E. Ma and f. E. M. A. Hopefully it wont happen soon, but it could. Having a metro region plan, or a statewide plan, where all the traffic is, with the businesses involved, because it means people being let off from work. I know schools let their children out at one, but then it involves school buses and parents coming and it was chaos. And it came very suddenly. It really did. I mean, within an hour or so, my husband usually he was out, and he had a 15 minute ride, which took him almost two hours to come home a lot of people spent a lot more time on the road than that. Absolutely. A friend of mine was at the same event that my husband was at. She called me and said it took her almost eight hours to come home. Therell be a lot of stories after the ice and snow storm. Liane levetan, its a pleasure to have you on the program. Maybe these ideas will come to fruition in the future. Thank you very much. Thank you. Byebye. We go from the storm to incredible stories, and Richelle Carey has been following that. You have an incredible one. This will make you smile, but it had to be stressful for a long time. Hang with me as i tell you what happened. You dont necessarily know what to expect when a storm is coming. When you are expecting imagine how stressful that could be. That amend to amy and nick anderson, parents to be. Amy tells her husband, its time, they thought about calling an ambulance but decided to drive to hospital instead. Thats when the roads became too dangerous to continue. We couldnt go forward and i knew the contransactions got strong contractions got strong. The couple pulled over and a Police Officer stopped and said, can i help you . I walked over to see if theyd broken down and i could see the babys head. A short time later beautiful grace was born. There she is, she was worn while all the chaos happened in atlanta, georgia. Something beautiful. Absolutely out of the terrible tomorrow. Thank you very much. See you later. Meteorologist Kevin Corriveau is standing by with more on how long this deep freeze is going to last in the south. Well, well see a cold evening. If you look at the radar, notice how the system moved to the south. Everything to the northwest is clear. Well see a lot of sunshine tomorrow. We are dealing with the warnings and a lot of areas that are still dealing with problems, down here along the coast of savannah. I10, 200 miles, was closed this evening because of icy conditions. Temperatures now are 21 degrees. Anything that melted today is going to refreeze, if it hasnt already. Temperatures are expected to go down lower for many areas. You can see we are expecting to get down to 16 deerings. Notice how the temperature is forecast to come back up to 40 degrees there. Tomorrow theyll get a bit of melting. Theres one night we expect to see the temperatures going down below freezing. 40 below on thursday. 22 degrees towards friday. A little bit more freezing overnight. After that, friday, it will be pretty much all clear to go. Textures all the way back up to 63 on sunday. A welcome relief for the folks. Its a different problem in california. Too little snow and rain. Coming up, the growing concern that some communities could be without water altogether. But we have other news to tell you about. Overseas a warning that Al Qaedalinked militants in syria are aspiring to attack the United States. The director of the National Intelligence agency James Clapper says the wartorn nation is a magnet for extremists. Tremendous concern for the extremists who are attracted to syria, engage in combat, get training and we are seeing now the appearance of training complexes in syria to train people to go back to their countries and, of course, conduct more terrorist acts. It can be difficult to understand who is who when it comes to those fighting in syria, but there are fundamental difference, and Nick Schifrin reports from geneva. In this turkish market next to the clocks you can buy fabric for your own syrian rebel uniform. Inside dozens of shops military vests are 30 and there are matching daggers. On the wall a flag declaring allegiance to fighters fighting for al qaeda. Inside syria those fighters release propaganda videos fly the same flag. They are the most leethful and successful of all the armed groups, and the popular. In turkey we met jamil who facilitates and supports islamist fighters, saying they are not corrupt. Translation the islamist state fights the robbers and thieves, thats why the Syrian People support them. The Islamic State is not only fighting assad, but the u. S. Backed opposition fighters for control of the country side and border crossings. The fight is not only inside syria, its at the border and control over these supplies that are going into syria. Its volatile. Until recently the area was controlled by fighters that the u. S. Would consider moderate. Two weeks ago it was taken over by radical fighters. In geneva. The negotiators say the radicals means the government needs to stay in power to fight terrorism. The issue is to stop terrorism. The opposition says its abb excuse. Arguing the brutality of Bashar Alassad opened the doors to terrorists. Theres a third option in syria. A democratic transition. Colonel Ammar Al Wawi is fighting for the third option. He was one of the first officers to defect from the syrian army and argues without american weapons the rebels cannot defeat assad or the radicals. Translation the United States of america has let us down. So the radicals are not going anywhere, which means in geneva the two sides will continue to disagree, and in syria the death toll will mount. Now to ukraine where the government is offering more concessions. The parliamentapproved legislation offered amnesty to protesters, demonstrators will be clear of crime, but they have to clear public areas within 15 days. Opposition leaders say its not enough. Coming up, a lawmakers disturbing threat to a reporter. What the congressman is saying tonight. To the rescue, dramatic video of friend coming to the help of an unconscious sky diver. Tonight an apology from the congressman who threatened a reporter. Michael grimm was week interviewed by Michael Scotto of new york 1. He asked about a criminal investigation into his campaigns finances. The congressman walked away, only to return saying this . today the reporter said the congressman called him and apologised. A representative of Michael Grimm issued a public apology. I was wrong, it shouldnt have happened. I called Michael Scotto, he accepted my apology, and well go to lunch and put it behind us. Now to the state of union, and president obamas ovation when he spoke about women and the workplace. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child tore a sick parent without running into hardship. You know what, a father does too. It is time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a mad men episode. This year, lets all come together, congress, the white house, businesses from wall street to main street and give every woman the opportunity she deserves. I believe when women succeed, america succeeds. We are joined from new york by keli goff, a contributing writer to booest the daily beast, and the root. An important point. The president got big applause. If they have an applauseometer it would have been off the charts. It was a popular moment. Why was it a hit on social media . I think theres a lot of ladies on social media. Thats part of the it. Its an issue. We know theres a war on women debate. A lot of missteps and gaffs on the g. O. P. Side with mike hucker bees libido comment and other highprofile missteps. Everyone has been watching to see who will go into the next midterm elections with more of an advantage with the women voters, and what the president would say to talk specifically to women. Democrats may have talked the talk, but women are not making as much as men. What has to happened. That is what was so smart. We heard the same numbers over and over for years. They havent changed that much. Which is the pay gap. What we havent talked about is why the gap exists, thats why it is important that the president spoke specifically to the role that women play as caregivers, and not just having to take a step back from their careers to raise children, but care for elderly parents, thats a significant issue in the workplace. You cant say, hey, lets pay women as much as men. If people do the same job and put in the same hours, its discrimination to pay one less. Its more complicated than that. We need to talk about changes so that women who carry the caregiving burden are not sacrificing careers to do so. I heard a response suggesting that the numbers are not accurate. If you take into account the amount of time that women spend in their child bearing years taking care of children, that the numbers are equal. Theres truth in that. I have written about that. The reality is if we want the planet and the population to continue, someone will have to have children. The only ones capable of doing that are women. Well have to sort out a compromise. He didnt say women should be paid equal pay for equal work. How do we make it happen . You do it by talking about how we treat people to do the work. What are the policies that would make a difference, in your opinion . We need to talk about family medical leave. Im mixed on flex time. I think at a certain point there are certainly jobs that are not compatible for spending lots of children with their children or boyfriend. If you want to be a c. I. A. Operative you are probably not going to spend a lot of time with the relatives at home, according to homeland. But you talk about diversity in the president s cabinet. Its a hot button issue. We should be willing to say if someone is great at what they do, they should be able to take off a few years, but not write the career off for good. Important issues. President obama took his state of Union Address on the road, making stops in maryland, and a steel plant in pennsylvania. As promised he set up a new retirement saving bond for workers. Bisi onileere was in pennsylvania and has more on the regions comeback story. Talk today focused on speeding up the economy and growing the middle class. President obama used this steel factory outside of pittsburg as a back drop for the message. This is a region that has come far. When i thought. Elissa ashwood, a california native is among a number of entrepreneurs launching startups in pittsburg. Pittsburg is an interesting city. It was never on my list of places i believed i would live in. Its in the nations rust belt where this 42yearold wife and mother is trying to make her treatment a reality. Elissa ashwood starred a Company Called truly accomplished. Its a webbased operation helping people to organise their lives and businesses. If you have a good idea that can be proven in the midwest, and in pittsburg, you can be successful in the other mark. 30 years ago pittsburg was at its worst. It lost much of its steel and Industrial Base in the 80s the economy collapsed. Over 100,000 jobs were lost, and a carter Million People moved out. So it was really a steel depression in the early 1980s, and pittsburg had a long road to come back. Bill flannagan has the leading Community Development organization. And he says after the economic bust reinvention was key in moving pittsburg floored. Health care, education and Financial Services fuel the economy. We have hundreds of companies employing tens of thousands of people that didnt exist 30 years ago. With unemployment hovering above 6 , chris briem, a regional economist at the university of pittsburg says theres a lot of work to do. The challenges remain in the core towns in the region, certainly the places where steel was. The mon valley and smarter communities have not moved past the worse of the job loss. In light of that the focus now is to educate, train and attract enough people to meet the demand of new jobs that entrepreneurs like Elissa Ashwood have to offer. The cool thing about being part of an Entrepreneur Community is when you do something agreement, others support you and amplify it. Leading to more opportunities and economic growth. The president s visit here to the pittsburg area gave him the opportunity to drive home the methods that he brought forward during his state of Union Address. Therell be more stops. We van bringing you a series of state of union reflections, checking with every day people invited to attend state of the Union Addresses in the past. Right now the story of two Small Business owners from california. Im kendra baker. Im zac davis. We are at the penny icecreamery in santa cruz california. We were invited to the state of union in 2011.